Snow
by RisemboolRanger
Summary: One-shot. Side story to "Changing Bed Sheets". Andie has never been allowed to play in the snow before... And with the other servants' enthusiasm over potential winter activities, one snowy day turns out to be one she'll never forget. Finnian/OC


_Why was it so bright?_

Andie sat up and rubbed her eyes as she tried to adjust to the light pouring in through the window, apparently unfazed by the thin curtains. It was still the winter season. It couldn't be _that_ sunny outside… could it?

She pushed the covers back and crawled out of bed. She padded across the cool stone floor with her bare feet and peered through the window opposite her bed. She was right that it wasn't sunny. Instead the light was coming from the thick blanket of white that was covering the grounds, stretching out as far as she could see.

Andie had only ever seen snow twice before. She'd never been allowed to play in it – she didn't even know what snow felt like. Her mother had always kept her housebound when the weather had become so cold. As the main source of income for their family, she couldn't afford for Andie to become ill.

But maybe… Maybe she could go and play in it today. If she got all of her chores done then maybe Sebastian would allow her to go outside afterwards.

"It's so bright in here!"

Andie turned to see that Mey-Rin was awake. She too had to shield her eyes from the glare. The other maid didn't seem surprised to see Andie stood at the window – the first thing she did every morning when she woke up was look at her daisies outside.

"It's snowed," Andie told her.

"Really?" Mey-Rin quickly joined her at the window. "Oooh, it's so pretty! And _look_, I think it's still snowing now!"

"Hey, what are you girls looking at?" Bardroy had woken up too. He sat up in his bed, stretching. His blonde hair was sticking up at the back and a light lick of stubble shadowed his face.

The chef's loud voice awoke Finnian as well. "What's going on?" he yawned, rubbing his eyes free of sleep.

"It's snowing!"

"_Really_?" The boys scrambled out of bed and rushed over to look through the window too.

"Wow!"

"Bloody hell, that _is_ a lot of snow!"

"I wanna go sledging!" Finnian announced excitedly.

"I wanna make snow angels!" added Mey-Rin.

"I wanna have a killer snowball fight!" Bardroy decided with a grin.

They then all turned to Andie, expecting her input too. "What do you want to do, Andie?"

Andie didn't really know what to say. How could she when she'd never been allowed out in the snow before? All she knew of it was what she'd seen her little brothers and the other children in the town do when she'd watched them through the window.

"Um… Make a snowman?"

Apparently it was a good choice.

"Yeah!"

"That's a great idea!"

"We'll make the biggest snowman ever!"

"I wonder if Sebastian'll let us have the day off…" Finnian mused. "I certainly can't do any gardening with the grounds like this."

"I dunno, this _is_ Sebastian we're talking about," Bardroy pointed out. "I'm sure he'll find something else for you to do instead. I don't think he's generous enough to…"

"Come now. You don't think I'm that hard-hearted, do you?"

The servants all jumped and fell about, trying to compose themselves and not look too guilty. Bardroy in particular jumped quite violently and banged his head against the window. "Ow! Err, I didn't quite mean it like that…"

"I'm glad to hear it," said Sebastian cheerfully, being purposely ignorant.

Meanwhile, Andie had shrank away from the rest of them, positioning Mey-Rin between herself and the butler. She hadn't even sensed him coming… Lately it had been getting harder and harder to do so. Was it because of the lessons that Sebastian had been giving her? She wasn't entirely sure if it was a good thing. She preferred having the advanced warning that he was near. When he just appeared out of nowhere the sudden presence of his black soul made her stomach turn.

"So… Does that mean you _are_ letting us have the day off?" Bardroy asked hopefully.

"I said I'm not that hard-hearted, but let's not get carried away," said Sebastian briskly. "A little snow isn't enough to excuse you from your duties entirely."

The hopeful faces before him fell at his words and he sighed. Sometimes he wasn't sure if it was worth landing himself with such incompetent, single-minded staff… He pulled out his silver pocket watch, barely glancing at the time before snapping it shut again. It was so difficult to try and accommodate for everyone else at times.

"You are all due to start work already," he informed them. "_If_ you can get your work done doubly quick then you shall be allowed the rest of the day as free time to do as you please… But only then. There are still jobs to be done after all."

The disappointed faces suddenly brightened again. "Really?"

"I shouldn't need to repeat myself." Sebastian used his blunt tone to cover his uncharacteristically generous decision. "And as for you, Finny… The gardens will obviously be a lot more difficult to tend in such conditions, so you can help Bardroy in the kitchens instead."

"Okay!" said Finnian enthusiastically. It wasn't often that he was allowed to assist the chef – his unnatural strength combined with his general clumsiness tended to make him more of a hindrance than a help.

Sebastian obviously hadn't forgotten this. "Bard, you are to begin preparing a beef stew that will be cooked later tonight. Give Finny the potatoes to mash and meat to tenderise."

"You got it," replied Bardroy.

"And no flamethrowers are to be involved," Sebastian warned. "Use the oven like any normal person would do."

Bardroy sighed. "Fine…"

"As for you two…" Sebastian continued, addressing the two girls. "Carry on with your duties as normal. It is up to all of you to complete your work more proficiently if you want to finish early for the day."

"Right!" came the simultaneous reply from the servants – Andie's a little slower and quieter than the others.

"Good. I'll come to check on each of you later."

Sebastian felt almost like he needed to wish them luck. He was sure that encouraging them to work faster wasn't likely to work out as well as one might hope… But if there _were_ any blunders then it wasn't like he wasn't used to them. He'd accepted _that_ fate the day he'd became a Phantomhive butler.

XXX

Luckily for Sebastian, working at a higher speed didn't cause _too_ many more blunders than usual. The snow was a great motivator for the servants and they all worked faster and more efficiently than ever. Even Andie felt quite excited at the prospect – the enthusiasm of the others rubbing off on her.

Mey-Rin found her just as she was finishing off the last knitting pattern she'd been given and they both went back down to the servants' quarters together. The boys were there before them and already pulling on coats and gloves.

"Make sure you wrap up warm, Andie," Mey-Rin advised her as she grabbed her coat off one of the hooks fixed into the wall by the door.

"Wrap up warm?" Andie repeated. She knew that snow was supposed to be cold, but she'd never really minded the cold.

"Yeah, it'll be freezing out," agreed Bardroy.

"You wouldn't want to catch a cold," Finnian added, as he wrapped a thick scarf around his neck.

"Oh."

Andie did have a white woolly hat that she'd made herself a while ago. She found it out from her small trunk of clothes and pulled it on over her head. She didn't own a coat though. She'd never needed one, never being allowed outside when it was too cold… Maybe she could just wear two jumpers instead?

"Here!" Finnian draped something around her shoulders. "You can have this. It's a bit small for me now so Sebastian got me this one instead!" He indicated the brown coat that he'd just pulled on.

How had he known that was what she'd just been thinking of? Still, Andie pushed her arms through the taupe sleeves and buttoned up the front. It smelt of earth, grass and something else. Something sweet. It smelt of Finnian… It was nice.

"Thank you," she said shyly.

Finnian just beamed at her. "That's okay!"

"Come on, lovebirds!" Bardroy interrupted, pushing in between them. "Are we gonna go outside or not?"

"Err, okay," said Finnian, pink rising in his cheeks as the chef pushed him towards the door.

Andie still just stood there. _Lovebirds_?

"Are you ready, Andie?" Mey-Rin asked her. "Let's go too!"

They all filed out into the thick snow. The cold bit instantly at Andie's face – colder than she'd ever felt before – and her breath crystallised in the air in front of her. The snow on the ground crunched underneath her feet and more still was already landing on her new coat.

She stared around at all of the footprints marring the otherwise clean snow. Big prints from Bardroy's boots, smaller ones from Finnian's wellies, and when she turned around there were even smaller prints still from her and Mey-Rin's shoes. She stepped along gingerly, forming a small circle, turning back to see the new shapes that her shoes had made.

It was all so new to her. The snowflakes landing on her coat formed tiny, perfect star shapes. She held out her hand to catch some but they disappeared upon touching her skin, unlike the ones that fell onto her coat. She looked up at the flurry still falling from the grey sky. There was just so much of it…

"Heads up, Andie!" shouted a loud voice.

Andie turned just as something cold and hard suddenly hit her in the side of the head. She jumped at the impact, staggering backwards in the snow, and automatically touched her hand to the spot where she'd been hit. Her hat and strands of her hair were now wet.

"Don't throw snow at her!" Finnian chastised the chef.

"Sorry," said Bardroy sheepishly. "I thought she'd at least try and duck… Hey, Mey-Rin! Show her how it's done!"

Andie watched from a distance as he grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, mashed it together and threw it. Mey-Rin shrieked and just about managed to avoid it, but she consequently fell over in the process. Was that what you were supposed to do with snow? Throw it at people?

Andie scooped some snow off the wall behind her into her hand. It was cold and damp. She tried to throw it, but the icy powder just dispersed and fell to the ground as soon as it left her hand. Maybe she wasn't doing it right…

She watched the others again to see how they did it. Mey-Rin was currently trying to shield herself behind a tree, whilst the boys were still throwing snowballs at each other. Finnian threw one particularly fast and caught Bardroy square in the back as he'd turned to get more ammo.

"Ow! _Finny_!" Bardroy protested. "Don't throw it so hard!"

"Sorry! I didn't mean to!" Finnian apologised.

They seemed to mould the snow first before throwing it, Andie observed. She grabbed some more snow off the wall and tried squashing it together in her hand. It still didn't seem to work very well – half of it squeezed out between her fingers and fell to the ground. She attempted to throw the rest of the cold mush that she was still holding, but it fell apart before it could go very far.

"You need to shape it better first if you actually intend to hit anybody."

Andie turned to see the young master Ciel stood behind her, donning a smart blue coat, a matching scarf and a rather bored expression. He didn't seem to be particularly excited about the snow like the servants were.

"Um, what?" asked Andie nervously. She always found the young earl's mature, appropriate manner to be quite unnerving.

Ciel sighed. "Fine… I guess I'll have to show you." He scraped some snow together from the wall, his hands protected by thick gloves. "You shape it into a ball like this. Use both hands. When it's solid enough then you'll be able to throw it better."

"_Oh_." So that was what she'd been doing wrong…

"Well take it then," said Ciel, holding it out to her.

"You want _me_ to throw it?" asked Andie, surprised.

"Do I look like I want to stand here throwing snowballs?" Ciel pointed out shortly.

"Um. Okay then…" said Andie uncertainly, gingerly taking the snowball from Ciel's gloved hand.

"But… Try and hit Bard while you're at it." Andie glanced back at Ciel, surprised again. The barest hint of a smile crossed his face. "Well he hit you first, didn't he?"

"Err… Right."

Andie did as she was told and aimed for the chef, throwing the snowball as hard as she could. Like Ciel had predicted, it travelled a lot better this time. But it wasn't enough to account for her poor aim. The snowball sailed past Bardroy's face – in between him and Finnian – much to their surprise.

"Wow! Andie, did you throw that?" Finnian exclaimed in awe.

"Err…" Andie was still surprised herself at how far the snowball had gone.

Bardroy suddenly grinned. "Yeah, she did! I think somebody was looking for a little payback." He gathered some more snow from the ground. "Now this means war!"

Andie squeaked and instinctively hid behind Ciel as Bardroy threw the snowball. "Hey, wait a moment!" Ciel protested. Fortunately, he was quick enough to duck and Andie hastily followed his lead. The snowball flew over both of their heads. "Bard, what do you think you're doing?!"

Bardroy looked horrified that he'd nearly hit the young master. "Bloody hell… Sorry, master!"

"So you should be!" Ciel shouted back, smoothing down his coat and trying to look dignified.

"Andie, I would appreciate it if you did _not_ use the young lord as a shield."

Andie jumped and whirled round as she suddenly felt that familiar black shadow loom over her. Sebastian had now joined them out on the grounds too. He hadn't wrapped up like everyone else had, but he was as composed as ever and didn't seem at all bothered by the cold.

"I'm sorry!" said Andie quickly, looking down at her feet.

"Are you happy now?" Ciel asked Sebastian. "I've 'made the most' of this weather like you suggested. I already told you that I don't care for snow and I certainly do not wish to frolic in it."

Sebastian sighed. "As you wish, my lord. Though it is a shame for such a smart winter outfit to go to waste."

"I shall wear it when we next go into London if it pleases you so," said Ciel uninterestedly, as he led the way back inside.

"Aww. I felt sure the young master was going to stay outside and play with us," said Finnian, disappointed.

"Don't be silly, Finny. Have you ever seen the master _play_ before?" Bardroy pointed out.

"It is a shame though," said Mey-Rin. "He's still only a child and he never really seems to be happy…"

Andie stared after Ciel's retreating back. It was true that the young earl never looked very happy. Yet the other servants, all of whom were older than him, seemed to really enjoy their lives here at the manor. It was a shame that Ciel wasn't quite so carefree…

"So shall we pick up where our snowball fight left off?"

"I think we should all make a snowman!" Finnian suggested. "That's what you wanted to do, right Andie?"

Truthfully, Andie had only really made the suggestion earlier because it was one of the few things she'd known people to do when it snowed. But Finnian's enthusiasm for the idea made her feel more eager about it too. She nodded. "Okay!"

"Great! Then let's start making the body!"

As they all started pushing snow into a pile to make the body of the snowman, Bardroy pointedly nudged Finnian in the ribs. "Because that's what she wanted, eh?"

"What's wrong with that?" Finnian protested defensively, a light blush spreading across his cheeks again.

"Nothing, nothing…" Bardroy grinned knowingly. Personally he found the whole thing to be rather amusing. Plus it was always fun to tease the young gardener.

The girls were oblivious to their little exchange – they were too busy trying to make the pile of snow take better shape. Finnian and Bardroy joined in and helped to slowly form the snowman's body. Soon, they'd managed to construct both the body and a giant ball of snow – roughly the size of a small boulder – to be the snowman's head.

Andie watched in awe as Finnian effortlessly lifted the ball of snow above his head and pushed it up onto the body of the snowman. Once it was up, Bardroy helped to position it so that it would stick and wouldn't fall off.

"He's looking pretty good," the chef commented.

"Let's put this on him!" Finnian suggested brightly, unwinding the scarf from around his neck. He proceeded to tying it onto the snowman with Bardroy's help.

"Can we put this on him too?" Andie asked, pulling the hat off her head. At just under five feet tall she was nowhere near tall enough to reach in order to do it herself.

"Yeah, good idea!" Bardroy agreed enthusiastically. "Do you want me to lift you up so you can do it yourself?"

Andie backed up and shook her head quickly. She'd grown a little more comfortable around the chef than before, but not quite _that_ much. She still found him to be rather loud and intimidating. "You do it."

Bardroy sighed. He supposed he should be happy that she could at least talk to him now. It had taken months just for her to speak to him on her own accord. "Alright then." He took the hat from her and fixed it onto the snowman's head.

"Oooh he looks lovely, he does," said Mey-Rin appreciatively. "Now he just needs a face!"

"Finny, go see if you can find some coal from the bunker round back," said Bardroy.

"Right!" Finnian ran off towards the coal bunker and the others carried on smoothing down the sides of the snowman. When he returned he was carrying a handful of coal and dragging some kind of wooden crate behind him on a piece of rope. "I've got some! And look what else I found!"

"What is it?" asked Andie, eyeing the thing that he'd been pulling along.

The others looked at her as if she was crazy. "It's a sledge!" said Bardroy like it was obvious.

"Oh. Well… What do you do with it?"

"You ride on it, silly!" exclaimed Bardroy, still amazed that she didn't know.

"Ride on it?" Andie repeated curiously. "You mean like a carriage?"

"Here, I'll show you," Finnian offered, handing the coal to Mey-Rin and then pulling the sledge over to Andie. "Look, you just sit on it here."

Andie did as he directed and tentatively sat down on the wooden frame. "Like this?"

"That's right. Now just put your feet up too." Again, Andie followed his instruction. "Are you ready?"

Andie nodded. "Okay."

Finnian pulled on the rope and the sledge started moving. Andie nervously moved her feet away from the sides. There wasn't really anything to hold onto… But Finnian didn't pull the sledge too fast and she soon felt confident enough that she wasn't going to fall off.

It was like sitting in the wheelbarrow – only this way she was closer to the ground. She trailed her hand through the snow as the sledge moved along, leaving tracks behind in the white landscape, rubbing the wet powdery mush between her fingers.

"Come on Finny, that's no way to ride a sledge!" Bardroy interrupted, grabbing the back of the sledge and pulling it to an abrupt halt. "You've gotta have more fun than that. Here, you get on too!"

With that he pushed the sledge into the back of the gardener, knocking his legs out from underneath him so that he fell back onto the sledge with Andie. "Wait, what are you doing?!"

"We're gonna find you some hills!" Bardroy started to run at a crouch as he pushed the sledge along. Andie wasn't sure she liked the increase in speed with nothing to hold onto and clung to Finnian instead.

Finnian noticed and tried to get Bardroy's attention. "Wait, maybe you should st–"

But it was too late. Bardroy had let go of the sledge and propelled them over the lip of one of the slopes at the edge of the estate. They careered down the hill, picking up even more speed. Andie buried her face into Finnian's back, terrified that she was going to fall off.

They hit a bump, forcing Andie to look up. When she opened her eyes she suddenly realised that it really wasn't scary at all! It was actually… _fun_. She watched in amazement at the world zipping past them. She tried craning round Finnian to see what was in front of them, if they were anywhere near the bottom…

But leaning to one side wasn't a good idea. They hit another bump in the uneven ground and Andie felt herself overbalance. She lot go of Finnian at the last second, not wanting to drag him with her, as she toppled off the side of the sledge and into the thick snow. She rolled several feet down the snowy bank before coming to a halt. She quickly pulled herself up into a sitting position, the cold shocking her senses.

As soon as Finnian realised what had happened he tipped the sledge over himself and scrambled back up the slope, as fast as the snow would allow him to move. "Andie! Andie, are you okay?!"

Andie was still sat in the snow, still surprised by what had just happened. She'd never done anything even remotely like that before... Finnian tore up the hill towards her, almost tripping over her in the snow. He pulled her to her feet in one fast, easy movement and tried to help brush the worst of the snow off her.

"Are you alright? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" he asked worriedly.

Andie managed to shake her head, but she was still unable to say anything. What was that feeling? She felt too breathless to speak coherently. Her heart was racing and it felt like the blood was rushing red hot through her body…

Finnian seemed increasingly concerned by her prolonged silence. "Are you _sure_ you didn't hurt yourself?"

Andie shook her head again. "That was… That was…" She couldn't quite find the words to describe what had just happened and eventually just burst out, "_Can we do it again_?!"

**XXX**

**Author's Note!**

Another one-shot/drabble/side story/whatever you wanna call it to "Changing Bed Sheets". Since we've had SO much frickin' snow lately I figured I'd try and make the most of it and work it so my creative advantage ;D

Again this one isn't set too far into the future (from where I've already gotten up to in the story). Andie's started to get a little more comfortable around the others by this point and it's also where Bard's started to be a bit of a nause on purpose |D

In case you didn't catch it I also did a Valentine's Day themed one-shot about Andie and Finny too! It's just called "Valentine" (me so original) – you can find it in on my profile if you so wish :3


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